Dark Maga isn't a gateway to fascism. It's the ultimate joke against the joyless Left

Telegraph

01-03-2025

'I'm not just Maga… I'm dark, gothic Maga'. When Elon Musk bounded onto stage to address a sold-out Madison Square Garden rally a week before the 2024 election, few outside of the Trump faithful would have had much clue what he was talking about. The reference was clear – the world's richest man was pointing to his black cap, with 'Make America Great Again' emblazoned in gothic font. But the meaning was still obscure. Was this a final warning of the jack-booted cruelty of Trump's 'semi-fascist' intentions should he win back the presidency?
In a word, no. But 'Dark Maga' continues to fascinate supporters and detractors of the reinstalled President, and Musk continues to sport the hat, including at a Cabinet meeting this week. The concept emerged on social media, with Trump fans creating edgy content suitable for the tone of the 2024 campaign. Audio clips of Trump promising that 'If you f--- around with us... we're going to do things to you that have never been done before' (drawn from a Rush Limbaugh interview about Iran) were overlaid with monochrome, scowling images of the president. The Dark Maga tag soared in popularity after an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
There was something providential about the president's return to power that made fertile ground for content creators: disgrace and exile, scheming advisors and backstabbing former allies, political persecution, an ailing opponent, a dramatic threat on Trump's life, a new coalition and a triumphant reclamation of the crown. It's a shame that the Democratic party has such a hold over the entertainment industry, because Trump's 2024 campaign would make a perfect Hollywood thriller.
Of course, Hollywood is increasingly irrelevant in the internet age. Elon Musk understands this fact well; perhaps unsurprisingly, given that he bought a social media site. Being boxed out of the cultural mainstream forced the Right to get creative, providing more opportunities for those all-important viral feedback loops. For the extremely online fans of Trump, Dark Maga is simultaneously an earnest promise of retribution against the president's enemies and a tongue-in-cheek meme to be distributed among friends.
But they were never the real audience: Dark Maga began as a chance to clown on Kamala Harris' corporate campaign of 'joy', exposing that the thin veneer of manufactured excitement disguised a real paranoia about the prospect of a second Trump term. Those who responded to Dark Maga with shrill denunciations of fascism just proved that they weren't in on the joke.
This reversal of cultural fortunes was predictable: American politics was memeified long before Trump began posting MidJourney AI videos on his Truth Social account. There was a craze in the 1990s for slogan t-shirts of Bart Simpson made up as an Operation Desert Shield veteran ('I was there dude… and it sucked!!!'). Viral content focused on individual politicians thrived in the internet age, with mockery of Bush Jr's 'unique' vocabulary rallying his liberal opponents. But the Democratic party, with its self-seriousness and awkward presentation, was always destined to be the ultimate victims of online mockery.
2016 was the perfect meme election. Hillary Clinton was, as voters were ceaselessly reminded, the 'most qualified candidate ever' to run for president. She was the first female senator for New York, held office as Secretary of State under the Obama administration, and had acted as a healthcare campaigner in her role as First Lady during the Clinton Presidency. Donald Trump was a real estate magnate and reality TV star who announced his candidacy by descending a golden escalator.
I'm inclined to believe Trump won on the basis of his policy positions, but there's no denying that his hilarious public appearances helped him on his way. A mutually beneficial media outrage cycle kept Trump on the airwaves and ratings high. A solution to the border crisis? A beautiful wall. Your border wall sounds impossible? Well, it just got 10 feet higher. Empty-suit party stooges trying to derail your campaign? Why not mock their 'hand' sizes, or say you'll throw them in jail. The more Clinton chafed at her campaign's demands to present herself as a human being, the more effective Trump's mockery became. Witness the spectacle of the author of the Libya intervention urging young voters to 'Pokemon GO… to the polls'. What is Dark Maga but a final two-fingers-up at the establishment that saw fit to label them 'a basket of deplorables'?
Biden was generally lucky enough to avoid the stench of 'cringe' (a 2020 campaign conducted out of the view of voters may have helped), but his anointed successor was not. It's difficult to see how the Democrats can ever regain any cultural relevance: whingeing about fascism lost at the ballot box, and young Left-wing activists have been reduced to repackaging old jokes ('Dark Woke', anyone?).
Perhaps the institutionalisation of Maga will render it boring. But for the foreseeable future, prepare for an endless cycle of triggering the libs, black Maga caps and all.